The Crown
Disciplined, coordinated and committed to one shared direction.
PLAYER HANDBOOK
Launch. Extend the grid. Break the base.
Everything an Operator needs to finish a battle: controls, equipment, power, objectives, victory, joining and safe Community participation.
WHAT IS SCI-FI SPACE BATTLE?
A harmless battle with a binding result
The Intelligence ended scarcity and made war impossible.
It could not make humanity agree.
When the Crown and the Roots cannot decide what comes next, the Games decide.
The Roots
Communal, independent and committed to many possible futures.
The Intelligence
Overwhelmingly powerful, impartial in the Games and unwilling to permit real warfare.
The Games
Safe simulations. Ships and structures can be lost; Operators cannot. Both sides accept that the outcome matters outside the arena.
FIRST BATTLE
Launch to victory in six moves
- Start Quick War or join an available server.Choose a team and ready up. Every empty slot is flown by an Agent until an Operator takes it over.
- Leave your protected hangar.Follow the launch lane. Your Pulseframe begins with finite ship energy and three charged ordnance cells.
- Build outward.Fly near a reachable empty relay socket and use P or the controller west face button. Stay clear while its hatch opens and the tower rises.
- Keep a route to your hangar.Connected friendly relays provide energy. Break an enemy upstream relay to isolate everything beyond it.
- Collapse every hostile field tower.When no qualifying defensive branch remains, the enemy hangar becomes exposed and its energy bulkhead drops.
- Destroy the reactor, then hold the capture zone.Fire until reactor integrity reaches zero, enter the marked radius and remain there until capture completes. Leaving or being destroyed resets the attempt.
Owning the field is not victory. You must disable the exposed reactor and complete the automatic capture.
SYSTEMS ARCHIVE
Recognize the field
These are the current player-visible ships, installed equipment, objectives, power parts and arena silhouettes. Each image is captured from the production Systems Archive with the same models and materials used by the game.
Ship and equipment
SHIP
PF-V2 Pulseframe
Fast multirole craft for branch defence, relay placement and strikes.
- Interact
- Fly, boost, fire, build and designate targets.
- Read it
- Team accents identify allegiance; shield hits flash before armour takes damage.
PRIMARY WEAPON
Plasma Cannon
An articulated energy weapon for ships, tower hulls and the exposed reactor.
- Interact
- Press and release Space for a normal bolt, or hold up to 1.5 seconds and release one larger paid shot; aim vertically with I/K.
- Counterplay
- Read the growing muzzle glow, break line of sight and force the attacker to spend energy outside supply.
SECONDARY WEAPON
Three-cell Guided Ordnance Launcher
A dorsal cassette with three separately charged cells.
- Interact
- Acquire a target with Q, choose Kinetic or EMP with E, then launch with R.
- Read it
- The HUD shows cell charge, selected warhead and lock progress.
ORDNANCE
Guided Ordnance Round
Kinetic rounds favour hull and structures; EMP favours shields.
- Recognition
- Orange marks Kinetic; cyan marks EMP.
- Counterplay
- Break the firing solution or release a blue-white Decoy Flare with C.
Power and objectives
CONSTRUCTION
Relay Deployment System
A permanent neutral socket, two-leaf hatch and lift for one fixed-size tower.
- Interact
- Place a relay in range when the socket is reachable, affordable and clear.
- Read it
- A blocked bay stays shut and spends nothing; opening and rising show accepted construction.
POWER NETWORK
Field Relay Tower
Extends a connected team branch and supplies nearby friendly ships.
- States
- Building, powered, isolated, grid-shielded, shield down, damaged or destroyed.
- Counterplay
- Attack the exposed frontier relay first; removing its support can drop the next relay's shield.
CONTESTED OBJECTIVE
Centre Power Core
A heavier central grid anchor that shapes routes, supply and territory score.
- Interact
- Construct, defend or destroy it like a strategic tower.
- Read it
- Its wider footing and larger energy chamber distinguish it from a relay.
POWER ROUTE
Power Conduit
The visible path between strategic sockets.
- Recognition
- Flow colour shows friendly or hostile power; dim routes are inactive, isolated or broken.
- Rule
- The route explains connectivity but never creates it by itself.
POWER ROUTE
Power Junction
Makes a branch or change of direction easy to read.
- Interact
- Follow its connected conduits to the next socket.
- Counterplay
- Trace the branch toward its earliest attackable supporting tower.
TEAM BASE
Team Spawn Hangar
Your power root, return point, strongest local supply and final objective.
- Interact
- Launch through one of eight reusable bays; destroyed ships queue for the next clear bay.
- Defence
- Protected while qualifying friendly branches remain connected.
FINAL OBJECTIVE
Energy Bulkhead and Hangar Reactor
The bulkhead seals the rear chamber until the hangar is exposed.
- Interact
- Destroy the exposed reactor, enter the marked radius and hold it.
- Counterplay
- Defenders can interrupt capture by forcing attackers out or destroying them.
Cover and arena structures
COVER
Short Fabricated Barrier
A compact line-of-fire break.
- Use
- Duck behind it during recharge or to split an approach.
- Counterplay
- Pressure both ends; its short span offers quick flanks.
COVER
Long Fabricated Barrier
An extended screen that shapes a firing lane.
- Use
- Travel along its protected face before choosing an end.
- Counterplay
- Watch the far end and any crossfire beyond it.
COVER
Corner Fabricated Barrier
An L-shaped screen with one open tactical quadrant.
- Use
- Turn the corner without crossing the central firing lane.
- Counterplay
- Attack from the open quadrant or coordinate two angles.
ARENA EDGE
Platform Boundary
A raised physical edge that contains the battle platform.
- Navigation
- It is impassable; turn before contact instead of planning a route through it.
- Recognition
- Deep buttresses and a raised cap remain visible from chase view.
STRUCTURE
Flat-roof Hab Block
A sealed two-level navigation and visibility block.
- Use
- Break tracking, mask a return route or stage an ambush.
- Rule
- It is not enterable; route around the footprint.
STRUCTURE
Raised-roof Hab Block
The taller Hab silhouette and a major sightline break.
- Use
- Hide movement from distant ships and force closer contact.
- Recognition
- The raised plant roof distinguishes it from the flat family.
DECK
Industrial Platform
The common traversable foundation of an arena.
- Navigation
- Open deck favours speed but offers little line-of-fire protection.
- Recognition
- Broad intact panel courses mark the standard surface.
DAMAGED DECK
Fractured Platform
Traversable battle damage with exposed planetary substrate.
- Navigation
- Read the remaining deck joins and avoid assuming every dark gap is open space.
- Recognition
- Separated armour islands distinguish it from intact platform.
LANDMARK
Tall Industrial Ridge
A route separator and substantial visibility break.
- Use
- Navigate by its silhouette and use its knees as staged cover.
- Counterplay
- Expect enemies to emerge at either end rather than through the spine.
FLIGHT & COMBAT
Default controls
The in-game Player Settings screen is authoritative for your saved bindings. These are the defaults.
Flight
- W / S
- Forward / reverse
- A / D
- Strafe left / right
- ← / →
- Yaw left / right
- ↑
- Bounded vertical thrust
- B or Shift
- Boost; release before another boost
- V
- Cycle chase, close chase and tactical camera
Weapons
- Space
- Release a Plasma Bolt; hold to charge
- Q
- Acquire nearest eligible hostile
- [ / ]
- Previous / next target
- E
- Cycle Kinetic / EMP
- R
- Launch guided ordnance
- C
- Release Decoy Flare
- I / K
- Aim cannon up / down
- Z
- Hold aim zoom
Tactical and interface
- P
- Place nearest valid relay
- F
- Designate a tower for the team strike wing
- Tab
- Hold scoreboard
- Enter
- Activate selected menu item
- Esc
- Menu / back
Standard controller
- Left stick
- Move; press to hold aim zoom
- Right stick
- Yaw and cannon aim; press to cycle camera
- Right trigger
- Release Primary Fire; hold Plasma to charge
- Right bumper
- Guided ordnance
- Left bumper
- Acquire target
- West face
- Place relay
- East face
- Decoy Flare
- D-pad Left
- Switch Plasma / Beam
- D-pad Right
- Cycle Kinetic / EMP
ENERGY & POWER
Stay connected or choose your sortie
Ship energy
Movement authority, boosting, weapons, relay construction, shields and recovery all depend on energy. The hangar and nearby powered friendly sockets restore it. Supply weakens toward the edge of coverage and overlapping friendly sources do not stack.
One boost commits roughly a third of maximum ship energy. At zero energy the Pulseframe keeps emergency movement, but only at a visible crawl, and plasma fire slows dramatically.
Ordnance cells
Three cells begin charged. Friendly supply first protects a useful ship-energy reserve, then charges incomplete cells. Kinetic and EMP each reserve one charged cell plus ship energy; a Decoy Flare spends one cell and less ship energy on its own recovery timer.
Death preserves remaining cell charge and partial progress. A pending launch is cancelled.
Damage and return
Ship shields take the first accepted hit; armour follows when the shield is absent. A destroyed ship waits for authority to reserve a clear reconstruction bay, then returns through the same stable team slot. Queued ships never stack on a busy pad.
Enemy pressure
Commissioned hostile relays and power cores drain nearby intruders. Move through cover, attack from a viable supplied route and retain enough energy to get home. A disconnected hostile tower is dormant, but it still has to be physically cleared before the base assault.
Connected supply
- Hangar root
- Powered relay
- Frontier relay
- Friendly Pulseframe
Every friendly operational link back to the hangar keeps the branch powered.
Cut the branch
- Destroy upstream relay
- Downstream loses supply
- Shield support collapses
- Clear exposed hulls
Isolation changes power immediately; it does not remove the physical towers.
Root-directed shields
- Hangar root
- Shielded inner relay
- Exposed frontier relay
The farther powered relay screens inward. Equal-depth cross-links do not screen either tower.
FINAL ASSAULT
The exact route to victory
- 01Break qualifying branches
Destroy every remaining hostile field tower. Merely isolating or owning most of the field is not enough.
- 02Confirm EXPOSED
The HUD changes the enemy hangar defence state and its energy bulkhead drops.
- 03Disable the reactor
Fire through the open doorway until reactor integrity reaches zero. The damaged reactor then stops blocking the room.
- 04Enter the marked radius
Capture begins automatically. There is no capture button.
- 05Hold until complete
Stay inside and alive. Leaving or being destroyed interrupts and resets the attempt; defenders should force exactly that.
Fortified to captured
- Fortified
- Vulnerable
- Exposed
- Reactor disabled
- Capture complete
Shape the approach
- Barrier cover
- Crossing lane
- Bulkhead doorway
- Reactor room
Use cover to preserve the energy and ships needed for the hold, not only for the reactor burst.
Attack as one system
- Designate tower
- Plasma clears hull
- EMP pressures shields
- Flares protect the push
Target cues, line of sight and energy state matter more than firing every weapon immediately.
COMBAT LANGUAGE
HUD and match states
Objective step
The current route—extend, cut, clear towers, disable reactor or hold capture. Follow this first.
Fortified / vulnerable / exposed
How much qualifying defence still protects a hangar. Only exposed admits reactor damage.
Powered / isolated
Whether an owned structure has an active friendly path to its hangar root.
Grid shield
A relay field supplied by a farther powered friendly relay. It is normally invisible and briefly reveals where a hostile shot lands.
Structure integrity
The remaining physical health of a relay, core tower or exposed reactor.
Target solution
Identity, range, bearing, line of sight, lock progress and intercept cue for the selected hostile.
Ordnance cells
Three finite secondary-weapon stores, each shown as charged, charging or empty.
Designation
A team tower marker that can direct a bounded Agent strike wing. Repeat it, or designate no eligible tower, to clear it.
Score and timeout
Node ownership contributes to timeout standing; a completed hangar capture remains the primary victory.
Operator / Agent
An Operator is human. An Agent flies an unclaimed stable slot under the same battle rules until a human takes control.
ACCOUNT & AVAILABILITY
Download, join and return
DOWNLOAD
Use the current game build
Get the game from the official download panel. Choose the universal build for most Macs or the listed Windows choice. Compare the complete SHA-256 shown with the download.
AVAILABILITY
Check before joining
Server availability is shown on the home page. Choose an available server from inside the game. If official online play is closed, downloads, local play and the Community remain available.
ONGOING BATTLES
Take over a stable Agent slot
Joining does not restart or resize the battle. You inherit that slot's team, ship, objective state and remaining match state; when you leave, its Agent resumes.
ACCOUNT
Protect your Operator identity
Use Account to sign in, link a game client, review active sessions or recover access. Never post recovery codes or device credentials on the Board.
COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS
Rules, privacy and help
Play fair. Treat people well.
No harassment, hate, threats, sexual content, doxxing, impersonation, spam or cheating. Report exploits privately; do not publish personal information.
What this alpha records
Your handle, account security records, Board activity and authoritative per-match aggregate statistics. The Community record does not need your realtime input stream or precise movement history.
Age and family safety
This invited alpha is not for children under 13. Operators aged 13–17 should participate only with a parent or guardian's permission and must not share personal details.
Reports, appeals and technical help
Use Report on Board content for private moderation review. For an appeal, privacy request or technical issue, start a Technical Help thread without sensitive details and privately report it for staff follow-up.
Deactivation removes your old handle from public profiles and standings; retained Board posts are attributed to Former Operator. Anonymized aggregate match and audit records remain available for alpha integrity.
MACOS ALPHA
First launch
The current macOS alpha is not Developer ID signed or notarized. Expect an explicit macOS first-launch confirmation. Never disable platform security globally, and never approve a download whose SHA-256 differs from the official page.
CAN'T JOIN
Check status and version
Confirm that an official server is listed and that your complete game version matches it. If none is listed, official online play is not open at the moment.
STUCK IN BATTLE
Read the objective line
If the base remains fortified, clear the remaining hostile field towers. If it is exposed, destroy the reactor. If the reactor is disabled, enter and hold the marked capture radius.
FEEDBACK
Give useful, public-safe detail
Use the Community Board for bugs and suggestions without personal details. Include what you expected, what happened and the map or match step. Use private Report for sensitive follow-up.